Only just over a half of employers expect to scrap default retirement ages completely when the practice is abolished in October next year amid fears that staff will refuse to go even if they are no longer up to the job.
Research undertaken among 115 customers by law firm Shoosmiths indicated that only 20% of respondents had so far made moves to scrap formal retirement ages, while the rest are still relying on them. Some 23% intend to retain a default age for all posts, while a fifth plan to keep the measure in place for some roles but not others.
Shoosmiths partner and head of employment Kevin McCavish said: “While this might suggest that next year’s legal changes will have a significant practical impact on employers and employees, the results reveal that the retirement age may not be pensioned off as quickly as predicted.”
Some 75% of those questioned were concerned that staff might refuse to retire even if they were no longer up to the job, while just under three out of five were worried about the uncertainty of not knowing whether a staff member would retire or not.
Just under half believed that the situation would make workforce planning more difficult, while 43% feared that it would have a negative impact on younger workers as a lack of opportunities for progression could lead to loss of motivation.
Some 42% were anxious that a lot of older employers would want to work part-time, while two out of five were apprehensive about the additional costs involved in providing them with benefits.
But respondents were split over whether they thought staff would still choose to retire at 65 or not. Some 42% thought that they would, while 41% believed that they would want to stay on.
One Response
Old Won’t Go?
‘Some 23% intend to retain a default age for all posts, while a fifth plan to keep the measure in place for some roles but not others‘
I doubt that 23% of employers will, in the event, be able to ‘objectively justify’ default retirement ages – if they try, many will become test cases at Tribunal. Being taken through the whole system right through to Supreme Court and possibly beyond is a costly business!
They will, in fact, be forced to confront capability management and realise that this will need to be across all ages groups. After all, the latest acronym is FASTT – fitter at sixty than thirty! The unintended consequence may be that age discrimination at the recruitment stage will intensify.